Perceived racism prevents BME candidates entering key professions

A report reveals that ethnic minorities working and living in Britain consider key professions including banking, politics, law and journalism as closed off to them.

A report reveals that ethnic minorities working and living in Britain consider key professions including banking, politics, law and journalism as closed off to them.

This is according to Business in the Community’s Race for Opportunity a race diversity campaign.

Almost half of respondents to the survey perceive the police to be a racist profession, rising to 72% amongst Black Caribbeans.

Similarly, over a fifth of Black Caribbeans consider the media and legal industries to be either subtly or overtly racist. More than a quarter cited politics as another problem area, rising to 30% when white respondents were excluded and 39% for the Black Caribbean group.

As well as perceptions of racism, the lack of role models and family disapproval was also found to contribute towards many of the best-paid professions being disregarded as genuine career options by ethnic minority workers.

Half of the people surveyed from an ethnic minority background said they were not interested in joining the armed forces while more than a third (38%) ruled out the police. Even more however (44%) ruled out politics as a career. For all other career choices more than one out of four said they were not interested.

Racist remarks continue to be prevalent in the workplace. More than a fifth said they had been offended by a racial remark in their place of work.

Sandra Kerr, National Campaign Director, Race for Opportunity said: “The results from the survey show there is still much work to be done, and are a call to action for politicians, policy makers, employers and educators to look harder at how they can ensure that these professions are seen as truly equal opportunity employers. The challenge is to ensure that for ethnic minority candidates the door to the city law firm is as open as the call centre, and that being a public leader is as normal as sitting behind a supermarket till.”